Printing update

 

In my previous post I mentioned that I’ve been straining my arms on a baby printing press making prints … well this post is dedicated to showing what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks.

The first image (above) is developed from a photo I took at Milford Sound (New Zealand) around Christmas time last year. I initially made the watercolour shown on the right and then (with lots of free latitude for doing whatever I wished) I executed the print on the left using drypoint on aluminium plate.

No. 2 image is a watercolour “fix up” of one of the less successful impressions … and I quite like it!

No. 3 is another drypoint on aluminium. This one is based on a photo taken at a lookout in Kalbarri (Western Australia) that the cook and I visited earlier last year. I’m presently committed to working in drypoint while I wait for an order of copper sulphate—the blue stuff kids have in their chemistry sets—which can be mixed with table salt as a mordent for etching aluminium.

No. 4 is an experiment. I placed the freshly inked plate onto a rolled-out smudge of ochre oil paint to give the otherwise b&w print a blush of colour. Sadly, my printing of the plate was rushed and not well planned and I should be able to refine my approach next time.

No. 5 is trying out a sheet of papyrus paper that I acquired many years ago. It sort-of worked out ok in a dull and fuzzy way.

No. 6 Is an attempt to use sandpaper to scratch in a sky tone.

No. 7 is a scrap of a bigger plate that I quite liked and couldn't stop playing with.

No. 8 shows where the No. 7 scrap of a print fits into a larger scene. I needed to cut the original plate into two sections as the image seemed a tad flappy and lost.

No. 9 & 10 (detail) is a watercolour that was the starting point for the previous (no. 8) print.